I chose to read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath because I love her poetry.  Her ideas always draw me in and make me think of the world around me.  The history of the book interested me.  Plath's husband, Ted Hughes, was dominant in their relationship and constantly put down Plath and her writing; he even burned some of her poems and the other novel she wrote, as he condemned them bad writing.  I wondered why this book made it through to publishing and escaped the wrath of Hughes.

I think this book was published because of the stereotypes it perpetuated.  Plath, just like Esther, struggled to find her place in the world as a woman.  Both women wanted to be poets and even though their writing talents brought them joy and recognition, society expected they would settle down and marry nonetheless.  It seemed impossible to adjoin the two lifestyles, leaving Plath and Esther feeling stuck in life.

Seeing only becoming a writer or getting married as her choices for the future, Esther sought a romantic relationship of her own after learning of Buddy Willard's past.  She found Irwin, "a tall young man with a rather ugly and bespectacled, but intelligent face" (225).  Esther decided he was the one, but nothing went as planned.  After spending the night with Irwin, she started bleeding uncontrollably, "the blood trickling down my legs and oozing, stickily, into each black patent leather shoe" (230).  After rushing to the hospital, she learned her case was one in a million, and could have resulted in her death.  The experience left her feeling frightened and empty, unlike how Buddy's experience gave him joy.

This experience ties back to the symbol of mirrors throughout the text.  Mirrors show an outer appearance, something Esther works hard to create.  She has expectations for her life and even when she is deep beneath the bell jar, she only allows others to see a perfectly fine girl.  However, on the inside she is breaking.  She cannot decide about her future and feels as if what she wants is intangible; her relationships are nothing like she imagined; a fun time in New York was wasted due to her ennui.  The mirrors show Esther's struggle with the way she thinks her life should be and the way it ends up.  They represent the societal views and their input on how people should lead their lives, or at least what parts of their lives they should show to others.

This distortion of her views also ties in with the bell jar, a symbol Esther mentions when she feels trapped within her feelings.  A bell jar is an instrument used most commonly in science that rests over an object and keeps out the air.  She always talks of how "the bell jar hung, suspended, a few feet above my head" (214).  She feels separated from the rest of the world stuck in a jar, where everyone else can determine her place in life but herself.  Although this shows her distortion as well and the expectation of others, the bell jar represents the madness that over takes Esther.

The book also shows how madness can happen to anyone at any point.  From the beginning, Esther seemed perfectly normal to me, and I could not see her entering a hospital.  Be that as it may, as the book progressed and I read more about her feelings, interpretations, and thoughts, I saw how slowly but surely the bell jar captured her and caused her the feelings she had.  In fact, the way the book is written with the slow over take of Esther, it makes it seem feasible and possible for the most rational person to undergo this change.

This idea returns me to think of the author.  I know the book was inspired by her stay at a psychiatric hospital, and that Esther's experience parallels hers.  The looming bell jar above Esther's head shows how madness is always there, quietly sitting and ready to strike at any moment.  Even after the help Plath received, she succumbed to her depression and madness; she killed herself whilst only in her thirties.  I have often thought of how sad it was for her life to end that way, and her only surviving novel gives insight into her case as well.

I would highly recommend this book after completing it.  I love how the reader is taken on the journey along with Esther, how her madness is rationalized and believable.  The book shows the pressures people face as they grow up, something all can relate to.  I like the different perspective of this time in a person's life shown by the book, demonstrating how this process is different for everyone.  Everyone leads their own life, makes their own choices, and no right or wrong way exists.